Rosebud

The Boy

She woke up to the sound of the nearby River. She emerged from the tent hoping that maybe today would be different. In a calm and orderly fashion she packed up her tent and sleeping bag once again.

At first she was very optimistic, as she made her way down the path. Yesterdays events seemed impossible,and she wanted to believe it was a nightmare. The last few months she had a hard time separating reality from sleep, and this was the most realistic nightmare she had ever had.

Disappointment washed over her as she was greeted by the sound of waves lapping against the rocks. Tears began to fall down her cheeks the closer she got to the end of the path. Storm clouds formed in the distance, and she sat down on the edge of the cliff. She watched the darkness move over the water, it was almost a perfect representation of her mood. She checked her cellphone several times, but never once did it connect to a cell tower.

Before the end of the day she made her way back to camp, and set her tent back up at the same place she had the last three nights. The next four days she had followed a routine.In the mornings, she would neatly pack her things up and then make her way back down the path. Every time she reached the end of the path, she was greeted by the same view. A cliff and water as far as the eye could see. She then would return to the same camp. She was truly lost and this felt like the only thing she could do.

Finally on the fifth day she didn't bother to pack up, she just made the 40-minute walk. The outcome was the same, but at least this time she didn't have to go through the hassle of packing. On the eighth day she was too angry, hopeless and unsure, that she didn't leave her tent.

By the time the tenth day rolled around, Her hopelessness turned into survival as hunger pains took over. She attempted to ration the little trail mix she had, but it was never meant to last this long. That day she searched the area close by for anything edible. It didn't take long for her to find a blueberry bush and a small patch of strawberry's. In the process of scarfing down the berry's, she wondered what kind of dream had hunger pains.

She lived the next few days off of just berry's, until it wasn't enough. One night she was laying next to the camp fire watching the stars and listening to the river nearby, when she had a brilliant idea, a fishing net. It didn't take her long to create a net out of vines and she used that simple net to catch all the fish she could eat.

Weeks would pass and she began to adapt to living in the woods. She even went so far as to build a fence that circled the perimeter of her tent, out of several sticks. She tied them together with Vines, and even created a door.

Every once in a while she would walk down to the path to see if anything had changed. Sometimes she would even call out hoping someone would answer, but no one ever did.

The only good thing about her new way of living was her lack of nightmares. In fact there were none at all. Whatever Alo had given her had worked, but at what cost.

She slowly fell into a routine and built up her Camp to the point it resembled a home. There came a point when she stopped going to the cliff all together. In some way she was comfortable with her situation. She wouldn't call it peace of mind, but it was something.

One day when she was down by the river,catching fresh fish for lunch, she heard a whimper. At first she thought it was an animal. Perhaps a raccoon or maybe a squirrel, But as she listened closely she realized it was a small cry of a child.

She dropped her net on the beach and began to follow the whimper. It didn't take her long to find the young child, he sat curled up just a few feet from her camp. she couldn't believe her eyes. She thought maybe isolation had gotten to her.

"Are you all right?" She asked the young boy. His head shot up and his fearful eyes locked onto her. He pushed himself back against the tree. "It's alright." She whispered to him.

She bent down in front of him. The boy was dressed in what appeared to be tribe like clothing. She didn't know what Native American tribe, but she was sure that's what it was. He was wrapped in head to toe in brown animal skins, with only a little red and white on his chest. He looked to be about five or six.

"Can I see?" She motioned for his hand, that he had been holding the entire time. Reluctantly he showed her, it was nothing serious just a scratch. "I can bandage this." She assured him, motioning back to her Camp."Would you like to come with me, to get the bandage?" She asked. The boy looked uncertain, which was reasonable, but she was so excited to see someone that she couldn't help but insist.

She pointed to her stick fence. "I have a first aid kit." She took a few steps backwards, and waited for him to follow. Slowly the boy pushed himself up from the ground and they fell into sync as they walked to the gate.

When she reached the fence she unlatched it in let the door swing open. She stepped in and immediately went for her bag. The boy hesitated at the door, he studied the camp. She pulled out her first aid kit, surprisingly one of the few times she used it. She popped open the plastic case and pulled out a singled Band-Aid. As she approached him, she slowly reached her hand out, and carefully placed the Band-Aid over his cut.

The boy looked at the bright pink band-aid in absolute amazement. He ran his fingers over it lightly. A big smile grew on his face as he looked up to her. He spoke in a language she didn't understand,but he was clearly impressed, so she smiled back.

He then turned his eyes to her blue and green tent. He wandered around feeling the edges of it and playing with the zippers. It was clear he had never seen anything like it before. She wondered where he came from and if there were more people like him.

"Excuse me?" She said softly and the boy turned his attention away from the tent to her. "Do you have friends and family nearby?" She asked the boy, and he gave a puzzled look. He gave a shrug and pointed to her new clay project.

Recently she had found some clay nearby the river and she had been trying to create some type of tub. She had the base down and was now working on the sides. She craved a nice warm bath and she would do anything to have it.

"That's going to be a tub."She told him. As he ran his fingers over the base. He then jumped up onto it and began to speak again. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you." She told him, but he continued to speak.

He threw his hands up in the air, and began to tell a story. He created a bird with his hands and sometimes his fingers resembled claws. The more she smiled, the more enthusiastic he got. She couldn't understand him but she imagined it was a wonderful story. but suddenly like a switch was flipped, his eyes looked up to the sun. With a look of dismay, he jump down from his stage and took off towards the gate.

"Wait!" She called. "Where are you going?" Fear washed over her, the fear of being alone. He held up a hand to keep her from following him, and he gave one last smile before turning tail and running.

She ran to the gate, and as she looked out into the direction he ran, there was nothing, but the trees. It was nice to speak with somebody after such a long time and in someways, it did give her a little bit of Hope. As the sunset she laid in her tent, listening to the sound of the cracking fire and rushing river and for the first time in a long time, she wondered what the future held.